"Don't forget... some things mustn't be forgotten... The shadow hunting me... I must hurry."
"My name is Daniel... I live in London at..."
"At... ah..."
"Mayfair."
"What have I done? This is crazy... No, don't forget... Don't forget! I must stop him, focus!"
"My name is... is... I am... Daniel." He collapsed to the floor and passed out.
_____________________________________________________
He awoke to the sound of a hoof pounding against his door, shaking away the lingering affects of his flashback from his sleep, he spoke.
"It is open." He called, Celestia walked in.
"Your highness?" He asked, she smiled.
"You do not have to call me that." She answered.
"I slipped the Damascus rose into those two guards' drinks. They don't remember what I told them." Celestia said, Daniel looked surprised at her.
"What?" Daniel asked, he sat up.
"You are not the same man as you used to be. You are like an innocent child yet again. You know nothing- hence, you have done nothing to deserve the hate one would have towards a murderer." Celestia said, she walked toward him.
"You can expect a doctor to come by later. Your ordeal left a lot of cuts on your legs, he'll give you antibiotics if you need it..." She said, she looked over to the nightstand- and noticed an almost burnt down candle was laying there. Still lit.
"...Daniel?" She asked, eyeing the candle.
"I have Nyctophobia..." He said, Celestia raised a brow.
"I wouldn't blame you. Your descent into darkness must have been all the more horrifying because of that. I myself would be traumatized." She said, Daniel leaned over and blew out the candle.
"Might I ask- do you still have the orb?" She asked, Daniel nodded. Celestia smiled.
"Take it out." She said, Daniel raised a questioning eyebrow, but complied. He reached over and pulled it out of the drawer in his mahogany nightstand. Celestia gazed into it.
"Leot Forbaernan." Celestia whispered, the orb gave off a soft yet bright light. Similar to that of a candle.
"Remember those words, the orb will serve as a night light." She said, Daniel smiled.
"Thank you." He said, he then noticed that a blank, ornate book had been placed on his nightstand.
"What's this?" He asked, Celestia smiled.
"Write down each new incantation you learn. You'll eventually be able to use them without the orb." She said, and she turned to walk away.
"Wait- your highness-" Daniel said, Celestia turned to him.
"Yes?"
"...Thank you." He said, Celestia smiled and walked away.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He wheeled his way down the hallway to find a pair of guards waiting for him- the same guards that had chased him earlier. Their eyes went wide went they saw Daniel.
"Are you the human?" The first asked, Daniel looked at them oddly; it felt strange re-introducing himself to the guards that had tried to kill him earlier...
"Yes." Daniel answered, the guards smiled.
"We're to accompany you to one of our old libraries- Celestia wants you to look at some of the old books on orb magic." He said, Daniel wheeled closer to them.
"Very well, then." Daniel replied, they began to make their way down a marble hall.
"So, uh, how's it going?" The first guard asked.
"I'm fine thanks." Daniel said.
"Good to know. We'd hoped Twilight and the others hadn't worn you out. I mean, she's a princess after all." He said, Daniel stopped.
"What?" He asked, seeming very bewildered at what the guard had just said.
"Yeah, she's a princess, you didn't notice the wings on her back?" He asked.
"What?" Daniel asked again, sounding even more bewildered.
"When an equine becomes royalty, they get a horn and pair of wings- they become alicorns." Daniel looked even more confused.
"What's wrong?" The second guard asked.
"Well... I'm just surprised. She didn't exactly act like she was... royalty." He said, the guards sighed.
"Well, she hasn't exactly been... liking her position. She moved out of her castle a while ago- kept it as a meeting place for her and her friends- and... she instead decided to make a small library out of the old inn that was for sale. The poor girl's been through a lot." The second guard said.
"Hmmmm... I'll speak to her in a little while."
"Oh- I just remembered- the room hasn't been opened in a long time- it's still gas-lit from the renaissance. You'll need to take something to light the lamps." The first guard said.
"Already have something." Daniel replied, he brought out one of the leftover tinderboxes he still had from Brennenburg.
"...Hmmm... well, that's convenient." The second guard said.
"Huh?"
"They stopped making tinderboxes a while ago... where'd you get those?" The guard asked.
"...A castle named Brennenburg." Daniel replied, the guards raised their eyebrows.
"Oh well. We're here." The first said, they stopped at a huge stained glass door.
"We'll need to shut the doors behind you. Open the gas valves before you try to light the lamps, got it?" The second asked, Daniel nodded.
"Good." The first said, Daniel wheeled his way in, and the doors shut behind him. He went over to the wall where a small valve was. He turned it, and heard gas flowing. He wheeled his way over to one of the orb-shaped lamps, reached up inside it, and struck his tinderbox ablaze. The gas lighting illuminated the room, and Daniel was impressed to find that as he lit the first one, a small fuse that had been put in place triggered the others to activate.
"...Just like London." He muttered. Wait. Just like London! He remembered his hometown now... Regent's Park, the university, his home, his drawing room... some of his memories began to resurface. His vision went white, and he heard voices.
"Father?" Daniel called.
"Ah! Daniel! Wonderful to see you! Come in, Come in, have yourself a look-see- I'm nearly finished with my latest painting. What do you think?"
"It's of Regent's park, isn't it? The lake!" The 14-year-old Daniel asked.
"Yes! Very intuitive of you! How are you feeling?"
"I'm good. How's Hazel?" Daniel asked, his father's cheerful demeanor changed to rather a rather bland one.
"Well... your sister's been coughing a lot, but, we think she'll be all right." He said, Daniel smiled.
"Good." He said.
"Now, Daniel... there's something I've been meaning to ask you. How would you like to become an archeologist when you get older?" He asked, Daniel looked surprised.
"You mean I passed? I got the scholarship?" He asked.
"Yes. You passed the history exam with flying colors- you've earned the master's scholarship to the university."
"Oh, dear lord!" Daniel said, trying to hold back his excitement, his father was beaming with pride.
"Yes. And there's something else- I got you and your friend Herbert a very special book." He said, he brought out two copies of a black book with the title: 'The Adventures of Odysseus', Daniel promptly took the copies.
"I thought they were sold out of this book!" Daniel exclaimed.
"Apparently not! You two are lucky boys, you and Herbert. I take it... you'll help me get some new firewood?" His father asked, Daniel looked up smiling at his father.
"Yes, of course!" He said.
"Absolutely not!" A woman's voice said, Daniel cringed in fear as a woman looking veritably angry at Daniel and his father walked in.
"G-good afternoon mother." He stammered.
"Do not 'good afternoon' me. Have you seen the Godforsaken state of your room!?" The woman exclaimed, making Daniel tremble in fear.
"Minerva, honey, please. The boy barely has any time to eat nowadays, much less clean his room!" His father retorted.
"The boy can make time- get up to your room now!" The woman screamed, Daniel ran to hide behind his father.
"Honey, you must calm down. You'll upset him and the neighbors." The father said.
"You must stop being so soft on that boy." The woman said, and she walked away. Tears streamed from Daniel's eyes.
"Daniel... 'tis all right." The father said, he bent down and embraced his son.
"Your mother has been very... ill. She does not mean what she says." He whispered, but Daniel shook his head.
Then, Daniel shook his head for real. The flashback was extremely tolling on his emotions- for a moment, he forgot where he was- then he remembered- he was still in the library.
To get his mind off of what he just remembered, he picked up a red book with gold stars all over it. He proceeded to read from the old parchment pages, however, his vision went white again.
"Wicked child!" His mother screamed, tears streamed from his eyes as his mother kicked him repeatedly.
"Stop! Please!" Daniel yelled, his sister ran from the room.
"Shut up!" She yelled, and kicked him again, the front door opened.
"Daniel, I got you- Minerva! What in God's name are you doing!?" His father shouted, and restrained his wife.
"Go to hell, Daniel!" She shouted, and lunged out of the Father's arms, and continued to beat Daniel.
"Stop!" Daniel shouted.
"Police! Help!" His father shouted, an officer ran up the cobblestone path into the house, and restrained the mother.
"Bastard child!" She screamed, and was dragged out of the house, leaving the father to tend to the wounds left on Daniel's body.
--------------------------------
"What!?" His father exclaimed, horrified.
"...I... this is my fault." Daniel said, looking to the floor in shame.
"You beat up that bully in school? With a rock!?" his father asked.
"...Please, father... I've been putting up with him tormenting me for so long... I couldn't stop myself..." He said, tears streamed down his face and mixed with the blood coming the small cuts on his cheeks.
"...How long has this been going on?" His father asked.
"...Four months... Ever since mother started acting... strange..." Daniel said, his father dabbed a cloth with cold water and cleaned Daniel's wounds.
"... This is not your fault." His father said, Daniel shook his head.
"But- I..."
"Daniel, this family has been through so much ever since your mother started... hearing things." His father said, the light of the candle on Daniel's nightstand flickered.
"And... she's probably not portrayed herself as the ideal roll model..." The father said.
"...So, you shouldn't blame yourself. You broke under pressure. I won't punish you for that." He said, Daniel looked up at his father.
"...Really?" He asked, his father wiped some of the blood of his head.
"True to the word." His father replied.
"...I'm going to home-school you for the rest of the year." Daniel's ears perked up at this.
"What?" He asked.
"I got wind of the fact that you weren't doing well social-wise in school. I hadn't thought that you were in that state of desperation, so, I thought we could fix things... but I was wrong. I got a permit from the state to teach you..." His father said, Daniel laid back in his bed.
"But... what do we do about Mother?" He asked, his father looked to the foot of the bed.
"...Your mother is to be admitted to the mental hospital." He said.
"What-?" He asked.
"And... I've officially decided... I'm getting a divorce." Daniel stared at his father with a mix of confusion, disbelief, and utter surprise.
"I know, it's probably a bit of a shock, but... I think we can both agree, father to son, that our lives are terrible right now, when we're with her. So, I've decided that we must get her out of our family portrait. In time, you'll understand that this is fair to the both of us." His father said, but Daniel shook his head.
"No... you don't have to convince me. I already don't like it here." He said, and his father began to remove the clothes from his drawers and placed them into a small trunk.
---------------------------------------------------
Twilight was waiting for him outside the doors as he wheeled his way out of the library; he was covered in sweat and was obviously upset.
"Daniel?" She asked, he was silent.
"...I had another flashback... two, actually." Daniel said, Twilight walked up to him.
"Daniel...?" She asked, Daniel looked at the floor.
"...I remembered some of my childhood." He said, Twilight stared at him.
"And...?"
"...I remember... my mother was... mentally ill..." He said, growing quiet, Twilight's eyes widened.
"I remember her... beating me." He said, Twilight looked somewhat upset when she heard this.
"Oh... Daniel... that's..." She said, growing quiet.
"And I remember my hometown and father... I was from... London. My father was an artisan." He said, growing rather uncomfortable looking.
"Daniel..." She said, she couldn't find words. Standing in front of him was a poor man who just remembered his childhood- his abusive childhood.
"I'll be all right... I just need some time to myself. This wasn't exactly what I was expecting." He said, and he wheeled his way back to his room.
------------------------------------------------
She cracked the door open to see him sitting at his desk, depressed.
"How is he?" A voice whispered, Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash standing behind her.
"...You heard?" She asked.
"Yeah. I just got here- the guards overheard your conversation." She explained.
"...Poor guy, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah... maybe we should just leave him alone." Twilight answered.
"...Maybe... but I've got a weird feeling he isn't telling us something." Dash whispered.
"Daniel's been completely honest with us. Besides, what could he have to hide?" She asked, Dash scratched the back of her head with her hoof.
"I dunno... I just hope he isn't hiding something that's hurting him." Dash said.
"Hmmm... well, I'll talk to him later. She said, and the two left. Then, the guards walked by. The first guard stopped.
"What is it?" The second asked.
"...Hey, call me crazy, but, haven't we met him before?" He asked, the second guard opened his mouth as if he wanted to respond, but then stopped.
"...Your getting the same feeling." He said, the second guard nodded.
"...Do you remember having a drink forcibly shoved down your throat by Celestia?" He whispered, almost inaudibly.
"Preposterous!" The second guard said, but then he stopped for a second.
"...Wait a minute..." He stammered.
"...Let's get to the captain. Keep this between you and me."
"All right, got it." He responded, and they ran down the hall to find their commander.
Daniel fell to the floor the moment they left.